Restaurant-Style Salsa

Amending this to include a few more ingredients... makes a good one even better! This is closer to the Pioneer Woman's salsa. I leave out the garlic that she includes.

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This salsa tastes just like what you would find in a restaurant. I like it because it tastes completely fresh, but uses canned tomatoes. So you can make it all year round! My friend Kerry shared this recipe with me years ago and I've made it regularly ever since.


-1 (28 oz) can whole, peeled tomatoes, undrained
-2 (10 oz) cans Rotel tomatoes with green chiles, drained
-1/4 small white onion
-1 cup fresh cilantro
-1 jalapeno (keep the seeds in for heat)
-1/4 tsp sugar
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp cumin
-juice of one lime

Throw all ingredients in your food processor and let 'er rip. I like my salsa pretty smooth, but you could leave it a little chunkier if that's how you roll. ENJOY!

Cranberry Salsa

I wanted to hurry and get this recipe posted in case anyone was looking for a festive and unique appetizer for Thanksgiving Day. My new friend, Sherrill, made this and I couldn't stop eating it. Everyone was raving about it. I love salsa, but really only make it during the summer months. The cranberries make it perfect for fall and winter. You can really taste the fresh lime juice, and the jalapeno gives it the perfect amount of heat. Not too spicy. Sherrill served it with tortilla chips, and it was incredible just like that. But we agreed the possibilities were endless - over chicken or fish, poured over a block of cream cheese with crackers, sprinkled with pecans, even spread on a leftover-Thanksgiving-turkey sandwich.

I will definitely be making this a lot over the next few months.

1 (12 ounce) bag cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch green onions, cut into 3 inch lengths (reserve and chop some for sprinkling on top)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 limes, juiced
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt

Combine cranberries, cilantro, green onions, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a medium blade. Chop to medium consistency. Sprinkle with chopped green onions.

I love making new friends; especially ones that make killer food and share the recipes! Thanks, Sherrill!! :o)

Grandma Helen's Red Pasta Sauce

My Grandma Helen always made homemade red pasta sauce. I never ate jar sauce as a kid and to this day I don't eat it. When you grow up eating homemade pasta sauce, you just can't eat anything else. A few years ago, Grandma and I made the sauce together and for the first time, I learned her recipe. The only catch in learning the recipe - my Grandma doesn't cook by measurements, it's all memory and taste. This required me to adapt the recipe a bit on my own. Matt likes a little kick to his sauce, so I added more red pepper flakes than Grandma did. Recently, Grandma had surgery, so I made a lot of homemade goodies to keep her freezer stocked. It was the first time she ate my red pasta sauce. She called and gave me rave reviews and asked me to share my recipe with her. She is truly the inspiration for this recipe, so to me it will always be Grandma Helen's Red Pasta Sauce. Enjoy!

2 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves of minced garlic
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
2 – 28 oz. cans tomato puree
1 – 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 whole white onion
1 cup chicken broth
1 small can tomato paste
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP salt
1 large bay leaf

Add olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes to bottom of large pot. Let garlic and pepper infuse the olive oil for a few minutes.
Add the tomato puree and crushed tomatoes.
Add chicken broth to empty tomato puree can, fill can with water, add tomato paste; add mixture to sauce.
Add whole, peeled onion to center of pot.
Stir in sugar and salt; add bay leaf.
Simmer on low for 2 – 3 hours.

Once sauce is done, remove onion and bay leaf.

Want a hearty meat sauce for lasanga or baked ziti? Add 1 lb. of ground beef and 1/2 lb. of ground sweet Italian sausage to the garlic and red pepper infused olive oil. Brown the meat and the follow the rest of the directions for the sauce. Having the cooked meat simmer in the sauce gives it a great flavor for your favorite baked pasta dishes.